May 19, 2014
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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. / Matthew Emmons, USA TODAY Sports

by Jim Corbett, USA TODAY Sports

by Jim Corbett, USA TODAY Sports

ATLANTA - Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Monday it is a matter of when, not if, the NFL's postseason field will grow from 12 to 14 teams.

In addition to playoff expansion, selecting a Super Bowl LII host from among New Orleans, Indianapolis and Minnesota and the future site and format of the NFL draft will be hot-button issues at the two-day spring owners meetings.

No official vote on playoff expansion is scheduled to take place at today's full day of meetings. Nonetheless, membership can decide to take a vote within the room. And Jones said the majority of owners favor it.

"The 'when' is a substantive matter," Jones told USA TODAY Sports on Monday. "If you really look at the dynamics, the gravity of what's at stake, the benefit to the players, the teams that wouldn't be in the playoffs and the fans, there really is no pushback. I know there is a lot of enthusiasm for it."

Under the proposed format, a third wild-card team would be added to each conference. Last season, the 10-6 Arizona Cardinals were the best team not to make the playoffs. The 8-8 Pittsburgh Steelers would have qualified from the AFC.

Even if the required 24 of 32 owners vote to expand the playoff field, the NFL Players Association must sign off on the proposal. And that could be a stumbling block given NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith's comments to USA TODAY Sports on Monday that the union might block playoff expansion as a fight over workman's compensation law continues in Louisiana.

Meanwhile, New Orleans might have a unique edge in its Super Bowl bid - the city's 300th anniversary celebration.

"Minnesota will have the new stadium in 2018. Indianapolis did a really nice job with their last Super Bowl," said Marc Ganis, president of Sportscorp LTD, a Chicago-based sports consulting firm. "New Orleans always does a really nice job with the Super Bowl. ... I would have to guess it would go to New Orleans."

Owners also will be briefed on the potential relocation and revamping of the 2015 draft.

More than a dozen cities - including Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Orlando, Green Bay, Wis., Cleveland and Canton, Ohio - have made bids, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said. New York, where the draft has been held since 1965, remains in the picture.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said before last week's draft that the league was considering expanding it to four days.

Thereafter, the draft could become open for bidding similar to the way Super Bowl sites are chosen.

It is uncertain if the draft will stay in May after it was held two weeks later than normal this year.

"That's among the things we're looking at: when, where and format," McCarthy said. "It's been suggested we go to four days. Or we could do a couple of days in one city or a couple of days in another city. We're not tied to anything. We're exploring all options."

The league would like to make a decision on the 2015 draft by late summer or early autumn.

Five tabled items from the March meetings, including a call for no overtime in preseason games, could be revisited.